Robert J. Walker

Robert John Walker (19 July 1801-11 November 1869) was a US Senator from Mississippi (D) from 4 March 1835 to 5 March 1845 (succeeding George Poindexter and preceding Joseph W. Chalmers), Secretary of the Treasury from 8 March 1845 to 5 March 1849 (succeeding George M. Bibb and preceding William M. Meredith), and Governor of Kansas from 27 May to 15 December 1857 (succeeding John W. Geary and preceding James W. Denver).

Biography
Robert John Walker was born in Northumberland, Pennsylvania in 1801, and he became a lawyer in Pittsburgh in 1821. In 1826, he moved to Natchez, Mississippi, and he speculated in cotton, land, and slaves. He earned praise from former President James Madison for his belief in the federal government's right to coerce rebellious states (such as South Carolina in 1832), and he went on to serve in the US Senate from 1835 to 1845, when he resigned to serve as President James K. Polk's Secretary of the Treasury. In the Senate, Walker supported the 1837 recognition of the Republic of Texas and its 1845 annexation. As Secretary of the Treasury, he was loosely responsible for financing the Mexican-American War, and he left office in 1849. He was initially opposed to the Compromise of 1850, but he was later won over by US Senator Stephen A. Douglas. In 1857, he briefly served as Governor of Kansas, but he resigned due to voter fraud. He died in 1869.